Will Harris looked at his farm and didn’t like what he saw. So he made a ‘Bold’ move
Will Harris didn’t think he was harming the land and water around him. He didn’t think he was mistreating his cattle or damaging the Americans who ate his beef. He was a successful farmer just like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him.
But one day, Harris saw his rural Georgia farm in a new light and began to change his ways.
Soon enough, he radically changed just about every aspect of life at White Oak Pastures, becoming a pioneer and reluctant spokesman for regenerative farming: gone were the pesticides and antibiotics and the grain to fatten up the cows and the deals with the big agriculture companies that took the livestock for slaughter in cruel and unnatural conditions. Harris began moving his cattle from one pasture to the next so they could graze the land in a manner that was good both for them and the soil; he broke free from the monoculture approach, adding sheep, chicken and hogs, which helped reshape the farm even further.
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Ultimately, Harris realized his approach not only was good for the animals and the environment – while factory farms release tons of methane, a study showed his farm has a net negative carbon footprint – it was good for the local economy too: He has a $100,000 weekly payroll paid out to local employees, helping generate new life in poverty-riddled Clay County.
Harris, who spoke recently by video from his land in Bluffton, Georgia emphasizes that farmers need to stop fighting nature, the way Big Agriculture does, but he adds that Big Ag has responded to the growth of organic and regenerative farming with greenwashing, a way to deceive customers into thinking they’re getting healthy and natural products when they’re not.
His new book, “A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: One Farm, Six Generations and the Future of Food,” explains his techniques and tells his family’s history on the farm, but also calls out those who would undermine America with an emphasis on profits over anything else. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. How much has the perception and understanding of regenerative farming changed in the last 20 years for your fellow farmers, the public and policymakers?
We’ve made the least progress among established farmers. It’s understandable. They were raised, as I was, to think industrial commodity food production is right. Like me, their daddy told them, “This is what you’re supposed to do.” And the University of Georgia College of Agriculture told them, “This is what you’re supposed to do.” And they’re told by the big multinational food companies and pesticide companies and pharmaceutical companies that what they’re doing is right and beautiful.
There’s been nobody saying, “This is not what you’re supposed to do. Except for Will. And he’s crazy as hell, anyway.” So meaningful change won’t come from industrial producers. Well, they can be replaced if they retire by another generation that embraces kinder, gentler food production.
With consumers, more people understand the difference between industrial farming and this kind of farming today but I don’t think it’s a hell of a lot more people. And big food companies have put a lot more effort into literally tricking people … and they’re incredibly good at it and very successful. Really smart people believe that the food they’re eating is just fine and it’s not.
Q. So is your book aimed at consumers or policymakers or were you just telling your story?
Nobody’s asked me that before, but I really was just describing my journey as I witnessed it. I wasn’t aiming it at anybody, but I hope people who want to produce food this way would be heartened by it … or maybe disheartened by how hard it is. I don’t want them to head in this direction with rose-colored glasses on. If they come this way, they damn well better be ready.
It’s definitely not aimed at policymakers – they’re driven by lobbyists and paid to not pay attention to my book. I can’t compete with big multinational food and technology companies. I guess now that you asked the question, the one group I hope to have an impact on would-be consumers. If there’s going to be change it will be driven by consumers.
Q. Shouldn’t policymakers want to learn about something that generates local jobs and dollars and is good for the environment and public health?
In this county, my county commission appreciates the fact that we put a lot of jobs here and if I need something done locally and it is fair, they’ll do it. And our state commissioner of agriculture has been to the farm and if I call him with something within his authority, he’ll do it. But that’s a very small thing compared to the billions of dollars spent on federal subsidies throughout the state for industrial farms. It is just really incredible what’s been done with ag policy at the federal level.
The federal government initially felt compelled to be involved in supply management with subsidies to be sure we didn’t run out of food. I get that. I don’t want to run out of food. So the government influenced the farmer on what he should plant and what he should not plant. That was not evil or corrupt in its inception. But it has evolved into something way different as food companies and agriculture companies and tech companies got bigger and bigger and bigger. And it was all driven by profitability. I’m a free enterprise guy, not opposed to profitability, but that’s what got us where we are. And where we are is a very bad place.
Q. When you look at the ways big business has corrupted farming and our food supply do you get angry? Is it possible to have hope for the future?
I don’t think I’m embittered, but I’m very concerned. When I got the zeal of wanting to change what I do, I didn’t go out on the road to get people to change, but if you were a farmer and you asked me I would try talking you into considering it. I was very unsuccessful with that but that’s OK. But it has gotten harder and harder. If I attempted today what I did 30 years ago, I wouldn’t make it – I didn’t have to compete with greenwashing so I was spared that competition.
Q. If you were made king for a day, what would you change first in terms of policy?
The thing that needs changing most is the subsidies paid to those commodity crops. It’s an incredible amount of money. And by the way, when I get a government check, I cash it. I just don’t get much. My friends and neighbors who are industrial peanut, cotton or corn farmers get a lot. They’re good people and I don’t blame them for cashing the check – I cashed my little check too – but that doesn’t make it right.
Q. What do you hope consumers take away from the book?
To make change, the consumer has got to decide. At the end of the day, retail groceries are here to serve their customers and will put on their shelves what the customers demand.
What I’m doing here is very good for animal welfare and for the land and economy. The air and water and soil are better here because of how we farm. We changed this little poor-ass town and it is becoming a nice little town.
Regenerative farming won’t cure all the problems on the planet but in those three categories – animal welfare, the climate, land, water, and soil, and the rural economy – I don’t know how to fix it all but I know how to make great sweeping improvements.